The use of sulfuric acid (pH about 1.5) to leach copper from copper bearing ores is well known. Such leach operations are useful in recovering copper for ores which include oxides of copper. The leach operation can be carried out in heaps, dumps, and vats or in situ. In such leach operations, the sulfuric acid is used to remove the copper from copper bearing ore which it contacts. The dilute copper bearing aqueous sulfuric acid solution is then subjected to a solvent extraction operation to extract and concentrate the copper. The solvent extracted copper is then stripped from the organic phase back into an aqueous phase. The chemical reaction involved in stripping is the reverse of the extraction process: CuR.sub.2 +H.sub.2 SO.sub.4.rarw..fwdarw.Cu SO.sub.4 +2HR. The aqueous phase is thereafter subjected to an electrowinning operation to recover the copper.
In heap leaching operations copper bearing ore from a mine may be crushed to produce an aggregate that is coarse enough to be permeable in a heap but fine enough to expose the copper metal values in the ore to the leaching solutions. After crushing, the ore is formed into heaps on impervious leach pads. A leaching solution of sulfuric acid is evenly distributed over the top of the heaps by sprinklers, wobblers or other similar equipment. As the barren leach solution percolates through the heap, it dissolves the copper contained in the ore. The leach solution collected by the impervious leach pad at the bottom of the heap is recovered and this pregnant solution is subjected to copper recovery operations (solvent extraction and electrowinning). Typically an agglomeration aid is added to the crushed ore and the so treated ore is agglomerated as with an agglomeration drum or by the action of conveyor belts. The agglomeration aids minimize the adverse effects of fines (i.e., -100 mesh components) on the heap leach operation.
In vat leach operations, copper bearing ores from a mine are crushed and placed in a large vat. The vat is filled with sulfuric acid which dissolves the copper oxides contained in the ore. The vat is drained and the "pregnant solution" subject to a copper recovery operation (solvent extraction and electrowinning).
In dump leach operations, copper bearing ore mounds, typically created by "dynamiting" an ore deposit, are sprayed with a sulfuric acid leach solution. The leach solution dissolves the copper oxides. Upon recovery, the leach solution is subjected to copper recovery operations (solvent extraction and electrowinning).
In in situ leach operations, underground copper bearing substrates are flooded with sulfuric acid leach solution. The leach solution is recovered and subjected to copper recovery operations (solvent extraction and electrowinning).